Official error case law: delayed payment of a repayment claim was not official error

A charity reclaimed input tax of more than £200,000 for the period ending 30 June 2006. HMRC considered the claim excessive and issued an assessment to recover some of the tax. Following correspondence with the charity’s accountants, HMRC agreed to repay some of the disputed tax.

The charity claimed statutory interest which was rejected and the Tribunal dismissed the charity’s appeal. The Tribunal found there had been no ‘official error’ observing that the repayment had been late because the charity had been dilatory in responding to enquiries from HMRC.